Need urgent help regarding on my PSU.

kingbob387

Hi!

So I am getting a new GFX, I want an upgrade from the current 4850 GS I have. But the problem is, my PSU is rather small, only a 400W one (http://komplett.ie/Komplett/product/...U/default.aspx) Therefore I am having a hard timee finding a suitable GFX. Then I stumbled upon this (http://komplett.ie/Komplett/product/...T/default.aspx) Can someone tell me can the PSU handle the card, if not can someone suggest me a better GFX to get?

Thanks
Kingbob

Solitaire

Just. Power consumption would be in the region of your current HD4850. And there's nothing more frugal above that, and anything below it wouldn't give much improvement over your existing HD4850.

kingbob387

Sorry, but I don't get what you mean.

So should I get the GTX 460?
Or go for a lower option like the HD5770?

Solitaire

Give me a rundown on the rig in question - components and any overclocking.

kingbob387

No OC of any kind at the moment.
Here's the spec:
Windows: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional, Version 6.1.7600
Internet Explorer: 8.0.7600.16385
Memory (RAM): 2048 MB
CPU Info: AMD Athlon(tm) II X2 245 Processor
CPU Speed: 2908.5 MHz
Sound Card: Speakers (Creative Xmod)
Display Adapters: ATI Radeon HD 4800 Series | ATI Radeon HD 4800 Series | RDPDD Chained DD | RDP Encoder Mirror Driver | RDP Reflector Display Driver
Monitors: 1x; Dell E207WFP |
Screen Resolution: 1680 X 1050 - 32 bit
Network: Network Present
Network Adapters: ASUS USB Wireless Network Adapter | NVIDIA nForce Networking Controller | Hamachi Network Interface
CD / DVD Drives: F: PHILIPS DVD+-RW DVD8881 | H: UZKFEP ODIZ81I
COM Ports: COM1
LPT Ports: LPT1
Mouse: 8 Button Wheel Mouse Present
Hard Disks: C: 222.8GB | 232.8GB | E: 10.0GB
Hard Disks - Free: C: 126.8GB | 110.7GB | E: 3.0GB
USB Controllers: 2 host controllers.
Firewire (1394): Not Detected
PCMCIA (Laptops): Not Installed
Manufacturer: American Megatrends Inc.
Product Make: System Product Name
AC Power Status: OnLine
BIOS Info: AT/AT COMPATIBLE | 08/25/09 | DELL - 20090825
Time Zone: GMT Standard Time
Battery: No Battery
Motherboard: ASUSTeK Computer INC. M2N68-AM Plus

Solitaire

Do you really have three storage drives? Or just the one HDD partitioned?

Given you have a very frugal CPU a GTX460 should be okay with that PSU

kingbob387

Solitaire wrote: »

Do you really have three storage drives? Or just the one HDD partitioned?

Given you have a very frugal CPU a GTX460 should be okay with that PSU

I have 2 HDDs, one is 250GB Partitioned into C: and E:, the other one is a stand alone 250 HDD.

Solitaire

You should be okay, just be wary of adding more internal drives!

kingbob387

Solitaire wrote: »

You should be okay, just be wary of adding more internal drives!

I won't 'cause I don't need more anyway.

Would it be a bit safer to go with the HD 5770? Or it's really just the same?
And if I have a choice should I go for the GTX 460 or HD 5770?

Thanks Solitaire, you are a great help!

Solitaire

The HD5770 1GB is only a little quicker than a HD4850, although the added speed lets a 1GB version avoid the performance drop you get with slower cards (HD4850 and under) and/or 512MB cards when going up to Full HD (1920*1080) resolution. Its a frugal card but €135 for very little actual improvement. The GTX460 gives a much bigger jump.

Note that nowadays a few games (GTA4!) prefer more than two CPU cores. If your issues lie with that game in particular it may be CPU and not GPU that's causing any bottlenecks

kingbob387

Ah, ok. So if I have a choice i'll be better off going with the GTX 460.

That's great, thanks for all the help, I was getting a little worried that my PSU won't be able to handle the card properly.

Thanks again Solitaire, you are great!